Flying start for quiet achiever

The increasingly popular Classic Flyers Museum today celebrates its third birthday _ very quietly and modestly.
At 3pm on May 28, 2005, the museum was officially opened with one hangar, the AvGas Cafe, the Bunker shop and ticket office, and a collection of about 10 aircraft leased, bought outright or privately owned on show.
Now another hangar that houses the military collection has been added and the business has joined forces with the Historic Aircraft Trust in a nearby hangar to collectively showcase about 25 aircraft. Of those, some are static displays while others, such as a 1940s North American Harvard, an ex-RNZAF CT4 and two biplanes _ the 1940s Boeing Stearman and an Ag Cat _ live on to take people for joyrides around the Bay.
A Dominee and an ex-Air Force Devon also arouse interest from visitors, and soon to arrive is a Cessna jet.
The number of staff has risen in the three years from five to 19.
Volunteer members have shot up from 50 to about 400, with roughly 180 of those working behind the scenes in administration, on the shop floor, in reception, cleaning and looking after the aircraft.
Visitor numbers have quadrupled from about 5000 in the first 12 months, to ``somewhere around' 20,000 in the past year, chief executive Andrew Gormlie said.
Schools and service groups visit, as do people and organisations with a special interest in aviation, such as the International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians, who flew in from all over the country in February.
Last weekend a group of about 15 people flew in aboard the old Auckland-based amphibious Catalina, the only airworthy Catalina in Australasia.
"We plan to hold more interesting aviation-related events, such as the recent photographic competition, and the model auction we held a while ago," Mr Gormlie said.
"We will be having a few events to celebrate the anniversary of D-Day on June 7. And next year we will be helping organise the annual Sport Avex air show, which is getting very big and attracting more and more people."
Mr Gormlie said reaching the three-year mark was certainly an achievement, but the day would pass fairly quietly. A ``happy' hour or more from 5.30pm on Friday night will be the only recognition of the birthday.
"We'll have a celebration when we reach the five-year milestone," he said.
Mr Gormlie said he and his fellow trustees had a vision for the future but he was adopting the ``make haste slowly' approach.
"We don't want to grow too big, too soon."